


What Goes Around Comes Around

by urbangurl123



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst galore, F/M, Friends to Lovers, MUSE LILA THO, PEACOCK MIRACULOUS!LILA, PEACOCK!MIRACULOUS LILA AND NAT THO, Slow Build, Slow Burn, fluffy af, its gunna be so cute and steamy omg just you wait, lila character development, slight LadyNoir, takes place right after the volpina episode, tomatofox
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-16 23:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8122531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/urbangurl123/pseuds/urbangurl123
Summary: After being humiliated by Ladybug and antagonized by all of Paris, Lila Rossi decides to take matters into her own hands by seeking revenge on the two superheroes that tarnished her name while also falling in love with her red-headed classmate in the process.





	1. First Impressions - 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is the first chapter of my first Miraculous fic and just ahhhhhhh.   
> I just want to let you guys know some things about this story before you read:
> 
> One= This takes place a day after the Volpina episode and is going to be in Lila's POV completely unless I'm REALLY bored one day and feel like writing in Nat's POV. 
> 
> Two= No one truly knows why Lila had gotten akumatized in the first place.
> 
> Three= The development of their relationship is not going to be necessarily slow but I want to make it at a realistic pace if that makes sense? Meaning they're not going to fall in love with each other right off the bat. 
> 
> Four= I love Ladybug and Marinette to death and just because Lila thinks terrible thoughts about her and the situation they were in during the volpina episode, does not mean I share the same opinions as her. 
> 
> Five= The words I wrote in italian I have gotten from google translate and several italian translation websites, so please correct me if I had gotten anything wrong. Much appreciated. 
> 
> And yeah, there will be more notes at the end but I hope you enjoy!

People were swarming into the room in a moderate pace. Everyone’s eyes seemed to have been avoiding hers as she was standing in the front of the classroom alongside Madame Bustier, her teacher’s hand rested softly on her shoulder. Lila wasn’t really fond of people touching her but she allowed the action anyway since she knew that the woman was just trying to reassure her of _something_. But reassure her of what? Sure, everyone disliked her because of her attack on the city the previous day, but why should she care? It’s not as if she needed their validation anyway. She wasn’t afraid of them. She wasn’t afraid of what they thought of her.

 

Or at least that’s what she tried to make herself believe.

 

She started playing with the bracelets on her right hand as the sounds of chatter surrounding her grew louder and louder. No one was paying attention to Lila. She knew that she was the elephant in the room, the subject that no one wanted to really acknowledge and she found it frustrating. She didn’t even remember what she did! She only found out about the chaos that she caused when she saw the videos from the Ladyblog the night before. She saw how she created some sort of mirage of Adrien Agreste and dangled it by its wrist at the top of the Eiffel Tower, but she didn’t remember actually doing it.

 

_Porca miseria! They all probably saw that! Adrien probably saw that._

 

The sound of the late bell brought the teen back to reality and she quickly shook her head, forcing a smile as her teacher cleared her throat.

 

“Good morning class! As you all may know, we have a new student here with us today. Would you like to introduce yourself?”

 

The red headed woman glanced down at Lila and gave her one of those _smiles_ , the kind that her maid gives her when she notifies Lila that her parents can’t make it to dinner again or when she finds out that she has to move for the thousandth time. That smile that shows a large amount of _pity_.

 

She hated it, but she nodded back anyway.

 

When she looked back at the class, she almost shook at the sight of everyone staring at her. She always liked it when people paid attention to her but not in the way they were doing it. Everyone looked about ready to shout, ready to stand up and throw something at Lila and she almost wished she wasn’t there.

 

_No! Who cares? You’re probably going to move again in a few months anyway and then you’ll never see them again! There’s no reason to be nervous!_

 

She found herself immediately standing up straight and she lifted her chin a little higher to display her confidence to the class, to prove to everyone that they were all going to miss out on Lila Rossi.

 

“Hello everyone. My name is Lila Rossi.”

 

Madame Bustier lowered her hand from her shoulder and glanced back down at her. The teen continued to smile and awaited for her teacher’s next move.

 

“You may have seen Miss Rossi yesterday-”

 

Lila felt her heart stop.

 

“-at school since she was here with her parents to get some things confirmed. But today is her first official day as a student so let’s all give her a nice warm welcome.”

 

No one clapped along with her teacher and Lila felt that her life was hanging by a very thin thread. She thought her teacher was going to bring up what had happened yesterday, what _she_ did yesterday and she was beginning to feel tense. She didn’t know why she was so on edge, it was never like her to be so afraid of judgement. But I guess when there’s a good reason behind said judgement, that’s when it really affects a person. Lila couldn’t stop looking at the eyes of her classmates; she wondered if she looked into any of them as Volpina the day before.

 

She knew a familiar green pair were staring at her, could practically _feel_ their gaze, and she wanted so badly to go home. She didn’t want to look at him, she _couldn’t_ look at him.

 

Madame Bustier didn’t look happy anymore and scowled at her students with disappointment before sighing loudly.

 

“Why don’t you go take a seat in the back next to Nathanael? You got your supplies right?” She whispered.

 

Lila nodded and the woman gave her another pitiful smile before she opened her mouth again, her attention going to the right side of the room.

 

“Nathanael, if you will please raise your hand so Miss Rossi knows where to sit.”

 

Loud snickers suddenly came about from the front tables, Lila having noticed them arise specifically from the mayor’s daughter and her short haired friend and Lila could’ve sworn she heard some whispered apologies from the back too, but she refused to further investigate the idea.

 

Suddenly a thin, long arm shot up from behind the huge boy that was wearing some sort of goth band t-shirt and Lila began to walk towards it with her right hand gripped onto the shoulder strap of her bag.

 

She decided to stare forward at the book cases at the back of the room as she walked down the aisle to distract herself from all the whispering she knew was about her. She smiled. It didn’t meet her eyes and she knew it was as real as her constant bluffs, but it was the only thing she really had control over at the moment so she decided to take advantage of that.

 

_Stand tall, Lila! Remember what father told you! Slouching shows weakness. Just continue smiling. You’ve got this._

 

She didn’t make eye contact with one single person the whole journey to her desk, however, she  did finally look over at the person that the raised arm belonged to once her hand rested on her seat. Lila immediately noticed his mop of dark red hair that almost reached his broad shoulders. It wasn’t a feature she thought anyone could quite possibly miss when looking at the boy. She also wasn’t sure if it was because of his almost ivory colored pale skin or because of the thickness of his mane, but he reminded her of those porcelain dolls that her grandmother used to buy her for her birthday when she was a kid. The expensive ones from Germany that had thin lips and flawless looking skin.

 

She continued to look at him as she sat down, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion once she realized that she did not recognize him at all. Hours before the whole Volpina fiasco, she made sure to talk to as many people as she could while her parents talked to the principal so she could make a name for herself. It was a thing she usually did when she entered a new school. She would make empty promises to those who would listen and gained their trust and affection so she could already start off the year with a high social standing. And even though she didn’t remember everyone’s names, she did recognize the people in her classroom from the day before. However, the boy right beside her was a completely new face in her eyes and she wasn’t sure what to make of the whole situation.

 

“Um… Nathanael is it?” She tried to greet, not really sure whether or not he cared.

 

Nathanael didn’t respond, instead he continued moving his pencil across a page of a sketchbook, confirming her suspicions.

 

Her lips formed into a pout and she rolled her eyes before muttering a “typical” under her breath in annoyance, finally turning her attention to the chalkboard all the way at the front of the room. She adjusted herself in her seat, her bag rested on her lap, and began rummaging through it when she saw the teacher writing something in bright yellow chalk from afar.

 

“Okay class, today we’re going to speak about influential Parisian writers and I want you to take notes on this. I don’t care if it’s on a tablet, computer, paper, _whatever_. Just make sure to write everything down since you are going to be quizzed on this information sometime next week.”

 

A few groans filled the room and Lila took out her notebook and placed it on the table. She had forgotten her tablet at home so she had to manage with paper. The boy beside her didn’t seem to change position at all and continued to doodle whatever he was doodling, having paid no attention to the teacher’s demands.

 

Lila was beginning to think that the boy was maybe deaf or something, but then she remembered that he did hear Madame Bustier when she told him to raise his hand. She rolled her eyes at the thought and continued looking for a pen, her panic having risen once she reached the bottom of her bag with no luck.

 

_Accidenti! Accidenti! Accidenti!_

 

She forgot to take writing utensils.

 

She wanted to jump out a window.

 

“Accidenti!” She heard herself mutter anxiously, her hands still trying to search through her things even though she was aware of the outcome. She needed to write those notes down. If she failed her first quiz because of her own foolish mistake her parents were going to be so disappointed in her.

 

And she knew that no one was going to give her the notes.

 

So she was completely screwed.

 

“Do you need a pen?”

 

Her head shot up quickly at the abrupt sound. Was someone talking to her?

 

“Lila, is it?”

 

She turned her head to the left and saw that the quiet pale boy was actually making eye contact with her. _Willingly._

 

“Yeah.” she responded silently, her face looking almost dumbfounded.

 

He wasn’t smiling or anything, but he still seemed to hold this odd sense of tranquility to him. Lila thought it probably had something to do with his blue eyes.

 

He was holding a pen and she noticed that a headphone was dangling over his chest, the other seemed to still be placed in his left ear.

 

_Well that makes sense._

 

“Sooo do you um need it?”

 

His voice was deep yet so small and Lila realized that she was still staring.

 

“Oh, yeah if you don’t mind.”

 

Nathanael shrugged and placed it in front of her before he gave her a small smile and retreated back to his sketchbook.

 

Lila realized two things that day.

 

One, Nathanael apparently had _a lot_ of pens since he allowed her to eventually keep the one he had given her.

 

And two, not everyone in Paris hated her guts.

  


* * *

  
  


It had been about a week since she was Volpina and Lila found that her hatred for Ladybug still had not subsided even a little. She found herself scrolling through that dumb blog that was dedicated to the spotted heroine almost daily with this strong rage grabbing onto her chest that sometimes felt almost overwhelming. Whenever she would hear the kids at her school gush about the powerful teen, Lila felt her hands immediately clench into fists so tightly that her knuckles would whiten and she would have to stomp herself over to the restroom or somewhere private to calm herself down.

 

Ladybug ruined her image in less than one day, yet had the audacity to confront Lila after the incident to apologize, as if simply apologizing would make Lila suddenly bow down to her feet in admiration, would suddenly make what had happened earlier okay. Ladybug didn’t even tell the reporters why Lila got akumatized in the first place, making herself the victim and hero while making Lila the cold-hearted villain that betrayed the two superheroes and all of Paris.

 

The _hero_ didn’t even try to remind the citizens that Volpina wasn’t who Lila actually was, that she wasn’t going to remember the crimes that she committed and the pain that she caused. When she returned home that day with reporters and photographers surrounding her home, asking her how she felt about being the most feared akuma since Stoneheart, Lila wondered if Ladybug would have even cared that she was now seen as some sort of monster.

 

She grew even more livid when she knew that she probably wouldn’t have.

 

Ladybug was number one on Lila’s list of worst people she had ever encountered and didn’t think she could feel that same amount of loathing for anyone else until she started to become the human target of Chloe Bourgeious’ insufferable insults.

 

She never thought a human could be so persistent when it came to making another person’s life a living hell, but she had also never met someone like Chloe before. The mayor’s daughter always had to comment about everything Lila did, and she meant _everything_. She felt that she couldn’t even take a simple breath without being immediately judged soon after by the blonde; it was starting to become routine.

 

“Oh look, Sabrina. The fox thinks her makeup actually looks nice! Lila, fyi, eyeliner isn’t meant to be used as eyeshadow.”

 

_Che palle! Stronza! Stronza! Stronza!_

 

Lila hadn’t even been in her class for a minute and the girl was already acting terrible towards her. She cursed the day that the administration thought it would be a great idea to place Lila in almost all of the same classes as Chloe. Her tolerance was diminishing more and more as the days went by and if it wasn’t for her bad reputation at school, Lila would have already thrown the other teen to the ground. But she was still hated by many and still remembered that girl in the bathroom that immediately ran out once her eyes landed on Lila, so she had to refrain from doing anything that may upset anyone further.

 

_Why is living in Paris so hard?_

 

Lila huffed and finally walked passed the other student, deciding to just ignore her as usual and head to her seat. Luckily, Nathanael shared that class with her too, so she wasn’t completely surrounded by negativity.

 

However, she was still angry. Especially since Madame Mendeleiev had gone to the restroom and didn’t get to see Chloe’s cruelty. Everyone was talking loudly with one another as if the scene that had just played out never happened and Lila couldn’t help but slam her bag on top of the table once she got to it.

 

“Il nervo di quella ragazza!” She commented under her breath. Nathanael immediately flinched at the loud sound her binder made when she had practically thrown it on their table.

 

She knew she looked bratty, like some kid that expects special treatment from everyone because she’s wealthy or something. But she couldn’t help her behavior. She had never been so mistreated in her life and it was driving her crazy how she had to bite her tongue.

 

She continued to mutter her feelings in her native language as she finally sat herself down, her shoulders slumped forward and her hand rubbing up and down her face in frustration. She hoped no one understood italian.

 

“Don’t let her get to you.”

 

Lila placed her hand down on the surface in front of her slowly before she glanced over at the red head. His eyebrows were furrowed intensely and his thin lips were pursed. His expression all-in-all just screamed empathetic and she was beginning to wonder if she wasn’t Chloe’s first victim.

 

She forced a chuckle.

 

“Don’t let her get to me? Must be easy for you to say.”

 

She didn’t mean to be rude, but the words just sort of slipped out of her mouth and she knew that she couldn’t take them back. Nathanael was just trying to be nice and she was taking her frustrations out on him. She hated that side of her.

 

“Chloe has targeted everyone in this class at one point. Probably everyone in Paris now that I think about it.”

 

“And that’s supposed to make me feel any better because…”

 

He shrugged.

 

“Because that means that she’ll eventually get bored and be a jerk to someone else. It’s just the way she is.”

 

“And _why_ is she that way?”

 

He shrugged again and they both turned their attention to Chloe, Lila finding even the blonde’s ponytail to be pretentious.

 

“No one knows and no one cares.”

 

Lila turned her head back to the boy and found herself staring at him again.

 

“How long was it for you?” She asked, not really in the mood to talk about Chloe but still wanting to keep the conversation going since it was the longest she had talked to someone in a while.

 

His blue eyes met hers once more (or his blue _eye_ since his layered hair was covering almost half of his face) and his nose scrunched up a little as he began to think.

 

“Maybe a week? I’m not really sure. I mean she still taunts me from time-to-time but the taunting was _constant_ for that week. I don’t think I have ever been called tomato boy more times in my life than in those five days.”

 

Lila smiled, she couldn’t help it.

 

And to make things even better, Nathanael was smiling back.

 

“Tomato boy, huh?”

 

He chuckled.

 

“Yup. I don’t even know how she comes up with these nicknames.”

 

“She has sooooome imagination doesn’t she.”

 

“Me and Ivan think she writes them down on her hand before she says them outloud so she doesn’t forget.”

 

Lila began to laugh _hard_ and immediately brought her hand up to her mouth to try to conceal the loud sound that was erupting from her chest, but it was too late. People were already looking at her, even Chloe who just scowled and turned back around to whisper something in Sabrina’s ear, and Lila found that she didn’t really care. She was laughing, someone was making her laugh after all of the madness she had to put up with that week and it felt so relieving.

 

Her eyes were closed and the atmosphere was feeling lighter and when she finally caught her breath and opened her eyes again, she noticed how red Nathanael’s cheeks were. He almost did look like a tomato boy.

 

Her smile vanished.

 

“Accidenti! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to draw everyone’s attention I just- you- it was just so funny to me.”

 

After a few awkward seconds of silence, the boy shook his head a bit and smiled shyly, turning his gaze back to his sketchbook.

 

“No um i-it’s fine, really. I just-”

 

He cleared his throat and tilted his head even further down, a few strands of hair beginning to fall out from the back of his ear, concealing more of his face from her. His smile was still evident however and Lila was still confused.

 

“-y-you just took me a little um off guard is all.”

 

Lila opened her mouth to apologize again but was interrupted by the sound of her teacher’s sudden entrance.

 

“Okay, all of you. Just because I leave the classroom for five minutes doesn’t mean you can dilly dally around the lab! What if one of you knocked a chemical down or touched something that could harm you!? Do I have to quiz you all on lab safety _again_!?”

 

The whole class groaned out one loud “Nooooo.” in unison, and Madame Mendeleiev finally walked to the front of the classroom to begin teaching.

 

Nathanael and Lila didn’t talk to each other the rest of the class.

   

 


	2. Sketchbooks - 2

Lila found it both a blessing and a curse that she was seated at the back of her classes. A blessing because she could go on her phone or check her makeup when she wanted without the teacher catching her, but a curse because the back of Adrien Agreste’s head constantly reminded her of what she had done. She suspected that he knew about the whole dangling his imagined body over the Eiffel Tower thing since he would always glance away from her when their eyes would meet for even a second. So she felt that he probably would never even come close to forgiving her if she were to apologize, and she hated how that thought bothered her so much.

 

_Why do I even feel bad? If he had defended me in front of Ladybug then maybe I wouldn’t have been akumatized in the first place! If he returned my affections, we could be sitting right next to each other right now holding hands under the table where no one could see. Everything would’ve been fine!_

 

She stole a glance at the boy from her seat quickly, her right hand balancing the weight of her head, and felt her chest hurt when she saw him laughing at something his friend Nino said.

There Lila was, sitting at her table with guilt weighing heavily on her heart and stomach as she continued replaying the video she had seen over and over again in her head, and the blond boy was just simply _laughing_. As if she was no longer anything to him, as if he didn’t care that she was practically having a whole existential crisis because of him.

 

“Lila, um you alright?”

 

She realized that she was still staring and quickly shook her head, her face heating up from embarrassment. She quickly looked back down at her paper and pretended to write something so Nathanael wouldn’t think any more of her previous action.

 

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just spaced out.”

 

Madame Bustier was still talking and Lila scolded herself for not paying attention. She knew she missed a lot of notes.

 

Neither of them said anything to each other for a while, Lila trying to focus her attention on her academics and Nathanael drawing something as he always had.

  
She heard his pencil drop and he sighed softly as if he didn’t really know what else to do with himself.

“I know it’s not really any of my business, but you’ve been looking at Adrien a lot. Are you um feeling guilty because of t-the-“

He cleared his throat.

“-Volpina thing?”

Lila stopped writing and felt her hand grip her blue gel pen tightly. She still didn’t look at Nathanael, but knew that at some point she was going to have to so he could finally believe her and drop the subject.

‘You’re right! It’s not any of your business.’ She wanted to respond, but knew she would regret saying later, so she bit her tongue and began to think of an excuse.

She faked a smile that was so forced her cheeks hurt and turned to look at the redhead who had a bit of concern evident in his features. Lila almost gasped when she saw how genuine his expression was and grew her smile even more so she looked more believable. She resembled a spokesperson in a toothpaste commercial.

“Me looking at Adrien?! Oh no! I seriously was just spacing out, I promise. I’m just a bit nervous since I’m going to have dinner with one of my mother’s celebrity clients later today and I still don’t know what to wear. Real big deal you know.”

Her mother never brought home any of her clients and Lila had a feeling that she wasn’t going to even see her parents at the dinner table later that night. Her father had to fly to America for an important business meeting and her mother was probably going to see her boss again to confirm some paperwork she had been telling her father about.

Her plastic smile remained intact and she was looking Nathanael straight in the eye as a form of reassurance. She was always told when she was little that if you don’t keep eye contact with someone during conversation, they can easily tell that you’re bluffing. So whenever Lila did stretch the truth, she always made sure her body language was always calm, her words wouldn’t stutter, and her eyes were always locked on the person she was speaking to. She had followed those steps for so long that sometimes she even found herself lying without even noticing. Her maid, Mia, could ask her why she wasn’t hungry and instead of plainly responding that she just ate a late lunch, she would make up a whole story about how a boy in a bicycle fell and after helping him back up, he gave her freshly baked croissants from his bakery as a thank you. She felt that it was a part of her now.

  
She seemed to have been doing yet another good job, since she saw a small smile pull at Nathanael’s lips. Not too big but a slight curve of the right corner.

 

“Oh, okay. That makes sense then. Well um glad you’re okay. And yeah, I can’t even imagine how nervous I would be.”

She nodded simply, letting her smile soften more and more as the seconds flew by so it seemed more natural and so her face would stop hurting. He seemed to accept her response and continued sketching in that book of his. Lila found herself glancing at it sometimes, wondering what he was drawing and wondering if he were even any good. However, his arms were usually hiding his book from plain view as they were rested closely on both sides of it, so she never had the chance to actually peek.

Until he dropped his eraser on the floor in between the two of them.

“Crap.” He muttered under his breath as he slowly began to move his chair back, his body bending forward under their table so he could search for the fallen item.

Lila felt it against her right foot, so she found herself bending down as well, the two of them bent down on the floor, probably looking foolish to any wandering eyes.

But once she finally saw it, the both of their hands reached for it at the same time and she could feel the warmth of his palm.

He immediately snatched his hand away from the contact and Lila grabbed the eraser with the tips of her fingers, bringing it up to the table’s surface.

“Dropped something?” she muttered before sliding it his way.

He was completely bright red again and his right hand was hidden in his hair when he tangled his fingers with the locks. He looked dreadfully embarrassed and Lila wasn’t really sure why. She was guessing it had something to do with their brief hand contact, but she didn’t really get why that was something to be so nervous about. She remembered how Adrien looked a bit odd when she placed her hand on his as well back in the library two weeks prior.

_Maybe it’s just some guy thing._

“Oh t-thank you. I’m um r-really sorry.”

“Sorry? About what?”

He quickly placed the hand that was in his hair on the table again and he turned his head forward, away from her.

“I-I don’t know. It was um a slip of the tongue.”

Lila shrugged and nodded in response before paying attention once again to the teacher, knowing that she was genuinely screwed with the note taking for that day. She was going to have to look up the biography of Alfred de Musset in her own time to catch up. She sighed and leaned back against her chair, listening to the sounds of Nathanael’s pencil gliding against his paper. She found it sort of relaxing, that sound. It reminded her that someone was doing something as simple as drawing, in this not so simple world, and it brought her peace.

 

She was bored and was tired of playing with her bracelets after a few minutes so she took a chance and turned her attention towards Nathanael to study him a bit. His mind seemed to be somewhere else so she was certain that he wasn’t going to catch her. And anyways, she found that looking at Nathanael was easier and far more less heartbreaking than looking at the back of Adrien’s head, so she decided not to stop.

 

The boy was hunched over, his hand sometimes going to his right ear to place fallen strands of hair back behind it in an effortless manner. She noticed how his jaw clenched at the same time his eyebrows would furrow when he was stuck on something and how his pale skin was still tinted with a bit of red from his strong blush before. Lila thought it gave his face more color and made the color of his eyes pop. She wondered what went through his mind when he was drawing. Was he thinking about the drawing itself, or something else entirely? She wasn’t sure, but when her gaze went to his swift moving hands and then to his paper, her curiosity got the best of her and she spoke.

 

“What are you drawing?”

His hand stopped moving completely and she saw his shoulders tense from surprise. She startled him.

“Um-“

His eyes flickered over to hers and that same blush from before appeared on his cheeks again, his eyes looking so very blue.

Lila didn’t think she had ever met someone as shy as Nathanael before. She hoped that it was because it was just his nature and not because of who she was. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably a little at the second thought.

“It’s nothing, just some silly sketches.”

She rose an eyebrow and turned her body more in her seat to face him better.

“I doubt they’re silly.”

Even if they were, she still wanted to see them.

He forced a small chuckle and she felt it in her chest.

“They’re- I mean- why d-do you want to see them?”

He gave her a nervous smile, his left hand scratching the back of his neck to add to that shy effect and she almost felt bad for asking in the first place. He obviously didn’t want to show her, maybe not anyone, but she was still so interested and still so bored. And what was so wrong with his drawings that made him so protective of them anyway?

She shrugged and gave him a small quirk of her lip to seem friendlier, to seem less intimidating. She didn’t really feel like boosting her own charisma in order for him to cave since she was too tired to do so and hated doing it actually, so she didn't change her expression. However, if she had to, she would. If it was necessary.

“Nathanael, I’m always seeing you draw whenever we’re in class, and it’s just been bothering me practically night and day to see what you actually created. I bet your drawings are absolutely stunning!”

She over-exaggerated purposely to see what kind of reaction she would get out of him, and when she saw how wide his eyes were and how the blush was seeping to the tips of his ear, she knew that she was on the right track to getting what she wanted.

 

“I-I-uhhh-“

She batted her eyelashes.

He cleared his throat.

“Well when you put it like that…H-how can I say no?”

His gaze fell upon his book again briefly and he took out his pencil and eraser that was rested in the middle of one of the pages before closing the whole thing completely, sliding it to Lila soon after.

“They’re all works in progress. So I-I’m sorry about the um sloppiness of the lines.” He spoke lowly in a humble tone.

Lila rested her hand on the leather cover, dragging her index finger down the spine for about two seconds before looking up at Madame Bustier to make sure she wasn’t watching them and going for it when she saw that the coast was clear. She wasn’t going to lie, she was excited. Even if there was a possibility that the drawings could be the worst ones she’d ever seen, the fact that Nathanael let her see his sketchbook (though it took some persuasion) meant a lot to her.

She expected maybe something simple from the redhead, like some tracing of an anime character or anything related like the artist in her old school. But what she didn’t expect were the very well-drawn drawings of random people, landscapes, and nature that had her eyes widening in shock.

They were all so good, the proportions and shading of every drawing looking so well thought out and perfected. She did find some pages with small comic strips of made-up characters, she assumed, but she considered those to be well drawn too. Even having read a few of them and wanting to know what was going to happen next. She treated each page as if it were made of fragile glass, not wanting to bend anything or do any damage in general and couldn’t stop staring at it. She couldn’t stop thinking about how talented the boy next to her was. When she got to the most recent page, she saw how he wasn’t finished yet. He was sketching out another comic strip and there was a woman’s body in the first panel doing a backflip over a box that she assumed the boy was going to add detail to later and she already found herself loving it.

“So what do you think?”

She closed the book slowly and traced the cold leather one last time before looking at him once more, this time her expression genuine.

“To be honest, these are probably some of the best drawings I’ve ever seen.” She spoke seriously, wanting to make sure he grasped how authentic her answer was.

His eye’s widened again and as expected, his face heated up. He turned his head away from her, wanting to hide his expression for some reason and Lila wouldn’t look away.

“Thank you but you don’t have to lie to me. I can take criticism.”

 She placed her left hand on his, and he practically jumped out of his seat.

 “L-lila?”

He was looking at her now. The poor boy looked like he was going to have a mental breakdown.

She didn’t pull her hand away and his body stiffened under her touch.

“Nathanael, when I say something is good, I mean it. Like seriously!”

“Miss Rossi, if you will please lower your voice. Some of your other classmates are actually trying to learn.” Madame Bustier had spoken to her from across the room, everyone’s eyes turning to her for a brief second. She forced a smile and quickly took her hand away from Nathanael’s when she saw a few people focusing on her touch and apologized.

“Yes, of course. I apologize. It won’t happen again!”

Madam Bustier gave her one last _look_ before speaking to the class again. Apparently the author she was talking about died when he was forty-six. Lila didn’t really care and instead pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen from her bag, knowing she was going to have to talk to Nathanael in a different way so she wouldn’t get them both in trouble.

She noticed how he had taken his sketchbook back.

‘I really liked your drawings of those people. Did you sketch them from afar or copy a picture?’

Lila slid the paper slowly his way, poking his elbow with the corner to catch his attention.

She didn’t get to see his reaction since she had to look forward so her teacher wouldn’t suspect anything. Though, she did hear a small gasp.

The sudden sound of lead moving against paper brought a smile to her face and she then saw the note reappear right in front of her.

He had sloppy hand writing.

_He even has that stereotypical good-artist handwriting.  Non posso crederci lui._

‘Thank you and from afar. I sometimes go to parks or coffee shops near my house and just draw what I see. It sounds kinda creepy now that I think about it actually…I swear I’m not a creep btw.’

She was impressed to say the least. Lila couldn’t even draw a stick figure, much less a moving person. She found herself also giggling at the last sentence, rolling her eyes at how defensive he was. She found it sort of cute, how easily flustered he got over everything.

‘I know you’re not. I actually think it’s cool. You must stay there for a while, huh? The drawings were so detailed.’

They talked about his drawings for the rest of the class like that, having passed that one paper back and forth. She noted how much easier he talked to her that way. She thought maybe it had to do with the lack of eye contact, but she didn’t really care. Lila was talking to someone and he was talking back, even if it was through written words, and it felt nice. The paper got very wrinkled and crumply eventually and they ran out of space to write anything else, so Lila had to pull out a few more sheets and they continued their conversation. She learned a lot about Nathanael’s art and even learned some things about him too. He had the most trouble drawing hands, even though he went to that café almost every week he still had never had an actual coffee or espresso from there, he likes sketching the Eiffel tower from the right because for some reason the lighting is always better, his characters from his comics are called Adalene and Leonardo and they’re both superheroes that came from space, and he also paints.

She found herself smiling at the paper as she would read and write her responses, wondering what he was going to say next. She began to think about what she could say to him to make him like her more. She was thinking whether or not she should make up some lie about how her father is friends with Stan Lee and that she could get the man to see Nathanael’s comics, or say that she was a muse for a few famous painters. She was thinking more towards her first idea but then decided against it in the last minute. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to stay in Paris so she didn't believe it to be a smart idea to make an empty promise to Nathanael so early on when she knew that she wouldn’t be able to contribute to her claim.

She decided to save that bluff for another day.

The rest of the class time flew by quickly and the bell took both of the teens out of the bubble they created over each other, Nathanael having flinched at the abrupt sound before chuckling. He was still writing something.

“Well I guess it’s time to go.” He stated, looking both amused and nervous at the same time.

He still, however, folded up the paper and handed it to Lila gingerly, her pinky touching the corner of the note before she grabbed it completely.

The red head then got up from his seat and began to pack up his things, Lila doing the same before shoving the note into the pocket of her polka dotted romper.  

“So, see ya last period.” He commented with a warm smile on his face. His cheeks were slightly pink as always and Lila was beginning to wonder if that was just his natural skin tone.

Students were beginning to leave the room, people sticking to each other as they left to their next period together and Lila felt a tad bit of jealousy and anger bubble up in her chest. No one was waiting for her to leave. No one asked if they wanted her to walk with them. It was pissing her off.

She realized that she didn’t respond to the boy next to her and she quickly looked up at him, sudden realization hitting her.

“Nathanael, what’s your next class?” She asked, trying to make herself sound as casual as possible. Her bag’s strap was already hanging on her shoulder as she walked closer to the boy, the two of them being the only students still next to their desk.

He seemed to notice the sudden distance between them and tightened his hand around the strap of his own bag nervously, his smile shifting into one more anxious and awkward.

“Oh um math. F-first floor near the courtyard.”

She smiled and forced a small gasp, placing her hand on his shoulder softly. He was having trouble looking her in the eye.

“Oh, how great! My class is also on the first floor. Why don’t we walk together?”

Her class was actually on the _second_ floor, but she desperately did not want to walk alone. Everyone would stare at her again. She would rather be late than have to deal with that. And besides, Nathanael was sweet and shy and liked drawing squirrels and thought Lila’s bracelets were cool, so she knew that he wouldn’t be bad company anyway.

“Yeah! S-sure, if you want!” He spat out quickly, Lila grinning in response.

She had a feeling that he was going to say yes, but she still felt a bit relieved anyway.

She patted his shoulder in appreciation before they both began to walk out together.

They were silent for a while, the loud sounds of students talking and laughing around them emphasizing her and Nathanael’s sudden lack of conversation.

“Do you like your math class?” Lila began, noticing how Nathanael’s bag was being held tightly in his arms. She hoped she wasn’t making him uncomfortable. I mean yeah, she found it funny and charming how nervous he would get around her, but she didn’t want to make him out right jumpy whenever he was in her presence.

“I mean i-it’s not my favorite subject. But it’s tolerable.”

She nodded. He still wasn’t looking at her, so she decided to step a little closer to him, their shoulders almost brushing.

“Do you draw in there too?”

“What do you m-mean?”

_Porca miseria! Why is he still stuttering?_

She moved herself even closer, the fabric of his jacket rubbing against that of hers ever so slightly. His hold around his things was even tighter.

She sighed.

“Well in the classes that we have together I’ve noticed that you’re always drawing.”

He finally looked over at her and blushed immediately at their close proximity before stepping away from her a bit, creating more distance between them.

“S-sorry.”

Lila rose an eyebrow, completely lost.

“Sorry? Why are you apologizing? I don’t care that you draw in class. I mean you should take more notes so you can pass, but-“

“N-no um not about that. Um-“

He looked at her again and she felt her head tilt slightly in confusion.

He then cleared his throat.

“Nothing. Forget it. Um yeah, I do draw a lot, but only when I’m really bored or when I don’t get something.”

A forced chuckle released from his lips and Lila felt herself smile in amusement.

“Well, you must be bored a lot, huh?”

She giggled, imagining Nathanael trying to listen to some math problem, but pouting dramatically when he isn’t sure how the teacher got something, and eventually taking out his sketchbook in a rebellious manner to sketch Leonardo fighting some villain that loves radical numbers or something equally as humorous.

Lila didn’t realize that she was out right _laughing_ until she felt the boy grab her sleeve and pull her aside.

“Watch out. You almost walked into a basketball net.”

She gazed at him again and felt her cheeks heat up when she realized that she actually _did_ almost run into a basketball net.

_How many people saw that?! Oh my god! Did Chloe see that?! I bet people are going to talk about it the rest of the day. This is bad. This is bad._

Nathanael’s laugh took her away from her thoughts and she was about to scowl at him until she heard his calm, quiet voice ring through her ears.

“No worries. No one saw it, I promise. And anyway, I did save you, so it’s not like it actually happened.”

She felt her face burn from embarrassment and found herself looking away from him, her hands shoved into her pockets.

“Hey, Lila. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

The late bell rang loudly throughout the school and Lila felt her eyes widen.

“Cazzo. Cazzo. Cazzo.” She muttered under her breath, realizing that they were on the first floor. The _only ones_ outside on the first floor.

“It’s fine. I mean we’re already here. I doubt your teacher will be mad at you for being a few seconds late.”

Lila was already searching for the nearest staircase nervously, hoping that her classmate was right even though he still didn’t know the actual location of her next class.

“Yeah, thanks Nathanael. Um we should both go, so I’ll see you in last period, okay?”

Her eyes weren’t even meeting his anymore, her mouth having moved for her. She gave him a quick wave before walking herself down the hallway where a staircase was located. It was perfect. It was the nearest one to her and if Nathanael saw her walking down the hall, it would still look as if she was going to a class on that floor.

She didn’t want to run because she felt that she would look foolish, so she started to speed walk, her boots making it a bit hard for her to do so.

“Wait, Lila!”

She heard his voice going after her, and she cursed yet again under her breath before stopping, seeing the boy running up to her.

“Nathanael?”

“Lila, um before we get to our classes I wanted to say that I’m sorry for laughing. I wasn’t laughing _at_ you,”

He took a deep breath, his hands going to his knees as he tried to calm himself down. He was obviously not the athletic type.

“, but at the fact that you found something I said so funny that you didn’t even realize what was happening and I just wanted you to know that. Okay?”

Lila felt her body ease, her nerves loosen at the sight of the teen in front of her.

_He was so worried about what had happened that he couldn’t wait until last period to tell me?_

She wanted to say more, ask him questions she still hadn’t come up with. But they were alone and the clock was ticking, and Lila wasn’t sure what lie she could say to help her grasp the situation or if a lie was even necessary.

“Yeah, okay.” She responded instead, Nathanael nodding and giving her another one of his signature shy smiles before he turned around and ran back to the classrooms along the hall.

Lila was late to class, but found herself feeling less bad about the situation.

 

* * *

 

 

Lila went home for lunch later that day, her cooks having prepared her a sausage and cheese omelet with a light salad on the side. She wasn’t really in the mood to eat something, but she devoured the dish anyway since she knew she would regret not doing so later on. Her maid was in the empty room along with her, cleaning the large window in the corner that was taller than Lila. She always found it intimidating.

“Mia.” Lila spoke, moving the liquid in her cup around in a circular motion.

“Yes, Lila? Do you need more sparkling water? A light dessert perhaps? I can ask-”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

The older woman hummed in response, waiting for the girl to go on and continued to clean the window. She was going to have to go on her tippy toes soon to reach certain spots that were bothering her.

“I talked to a boy today. Redhead, short, last name Kurtzberg.”

“Ah. Kurtzberg? Do your parents know that family?”

“No.”

Lila just wanted to mention his last name for some reason. She liked the way it rolled off her tongue.

The blonde didn’t question Lila’s words and continued to be silent.

“He’s an artist.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, and he showed me his sketchbook. He draws very well.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Maybe?”

Lila shrugged, forgetting that Mia can’t actually see her.

“I think I make him uncomfortable. So it was good for me, but I’m not sure if it was good for him.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I was thinking of telling him that father knows Stan Lee. You know that famous comic book creator? It’ll probably help. It usually does.”

“Lila.”

“But later in the year, of course. Right before mother and father make us move again.”

“Lila.”

“Maybe I could come up with something else in the meantime. What are artists usually impressed by nowadays anyway?”

Lila glanced up from her cup when she heard her maid’s sigh, seeing how the short blonde was now sitting in the chair beside her, her forehead covered with light sweat from her previous chores.

“Lila, why do you think he’s uncomfortable with you?”

The teen’s eyes furrowed and she lowered her glass to the table before staring at her maid’s dark brown eyes again. Mia’s skin was much more wrinkled than Lila remembered it to be.

“Well, he stutters _a lot_ around me. And when I do something as simple as touch his shoulder or his hand, he freaks out. Like when we were talking about his art he was fine, but when we walked to his class together, he could hardly look at me.”

_He probably thinks you’re going to hurt him._

Mia began to chuckle and Lila’s lips formed into a small pout. Why was everyone laughing at her today?

“ _Passerotta_ , you are a beautiful young lady that is well…”

“Well what?”

“ _Forward_. Touchy. And not that there’s anything wrong with that, but some people are shyer than others. Especially growing boys. They think a hand touch is the same as a marriage proposal.”

“I didn’t do it for a romantic purpose though.” 

“I know you didn’t and he probably knows that too, but your beauty and wealth can be intimidating to those who don’t really know you yet.”

Lila began to think about her interaction with Nathanael earlier that day, trying to decipher what could have possibly caused him to be so flustered around her. She ruled out the money part since he didn’t seem too affected by the mention of it when she lied about her mother’s famous clients. And she knew that she was pretty, she made sure of that, but she wasn’t really sure how that could possibly intimidate him. She wasn’t like a model or anything.

She sighed.

“It’s alright, Lila. Whatever it is, he’ll soon get over it once he gets to know you better. Boys will be boys. I mean didn’t that Agreste boy do the same when you touched his hand a few weeks ago?”

Lila felt her body tense at his name and she no longer wanted to speak.

“Yes, um now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m ready to return to school. If you can please tell the driver.”

Mia looked a bit taken back by Lila’s sudden order.

“But, you still have twenty-minutes left of your break. You will get there very early.”

She locked eyes with Mia and loosened her tense shoulders. She was preparing herself for the act, as usual. A forced smile grew on her lips as she got up from her seat, even deciding to add in a chuckle to make herself more believable.

“I just remembered that I need to return a book in the library and I don’t want to have to do it after school. You know how exhausted I get. Leaving now will give me enough time to do so.”

“Lila-“

“Please, Mia? I really should get going.”

The woman was still seated, her eyes following the girl as she went to retrieve her bag from one of the chairs at the front of the table. Lila knew that Mia caught her bluff, but the woman still didn’t question things any further.

“Of course. Right away.”

The car ride was silent. Mia was the only worker that would actually speak to her, so everyone else, including the driver, were always quiet. They did their jobs and Lila respected that, but she sometimes wished that some of them were as open as Mia. But Mia had also worked for her family since she was an infant, so Lila had an understanding of the reasons behind the differences in behaviors.  

Her headphones were in her ears and she was listening to music that reminded her of her home country as she stared out the window. She found Paris beautiful, the architecture reminding her of those old, black and white movies her mother used to show her when she was little. However, it wasn’t home to her and she didn’t think she would ever consider it to be.

She missed Italy.

She missed her Nonna.

She missed the way the sky used to look almost purple every night, the number of stars having always made Lila feel like she was floating in space with the smell of sweet tomatoes still in the air.

She missed the huge family dinners she would have with her parents almost every day.

Often times Lila wondered what her life would have been like if her father had never taken his job when she was seven, what her life would have been like if they stayed in her home. Mia told her not to think too much about it since she knew it would just torture her, but Lila couldn’t help herself. And besides, she knew that Mia missed Italy almost as much as she did.

Lila sighed at the thought and was about to close her eyes until she felt the car stop in an abrupt jolt, her head almost slamming into the head cushion of her seat.

_What the hell?_

She paused her music and quickly snatched out her headphones, immediately lowering her tinted window when she heard all the loud screaming.

People were rampage in the streets, everyone leaving their cars and Lila had no idea what was happening.

“Charles, we need to get out of here. I think something bad is happening!” She spoke to her driver, the man’s hands remained gripped around the still steering wheel. He didn’t reply and when she tried opening her own door, she saw how it was still locked.

“Charles!”

“Miss Rossi, the woman told us that she was going to come back. I-I am not sure what to do, but she told me it was going to be okay. We must stay here where it’s safe.”

“Safe?! A random woman tells you to stay in here and you believe her?!”

Lila heard more screams, much louder than before and she felt her hands beginning to shake.

“Charles, open the doors! Please!”

“The woma-“

Lila quickly lifted the lock of the car door and ran out as soon as her feet landed on the ground.

“Miss Rossi!” She heard her driver yell after her.

However, she no longer listened and continued to sprint towards the crowds of people, hoping that someone would be calm enough to tell her what was going on. She felt guilty for leaving her driver, but she had no idea what had gotten into him.

_Random woman?! What is he thinking?!_

Lila realized that no one was going anywhere specific for safety, everyone just running as if they were being cornered by some monster, so she continued running. What Lila didn’t know, however, was that she wasn’t so far from the truth.

Her knees almost gave out when the floor beneath her feet shook, and she could feel her panic rise up in her throat.

_Is there an earthquake? Is this an earthquake?! Non posso credere che questo sta accadendo!_

She tried going up to people to ask them what was happening, but no one stopped for her. It seemed as if everyone was fending for themselves, and Lila felt disappointed by that fact.

She had never been through an earthquake before, so she wasn’t really sure how it would feel or what she should do. But seeing practically all of Paris run in fear made her start to believe that maybe this had nothing to do with an earthquake.

And then she heard a loud roar and looked up to see a red figure flying through the sky.

“No, it can’t be. It ca-“

She was interrupted by the sight of glitter and the feeling of something hard hitting her head before her eyes closed and the whole world turned black.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you guys think? This chapter is not as long as I usually write my chapters since it's just the intro. But I'm going to most definitely post more words in the future. If you enjoyed the story and want to know when I'm going to post the next chapter or post any artwork for it, follow me and my friend's tumblr: http://fuckingchatnoir.tumblr.com/   
> I hope you enjoyed and until next time! :D


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